What is the Accountable Journalism site?

A collaborative project that aims to be the world’s largest collection of ethical codes of conduct and press organizations. The site is meant to be a resource, which explains global press ethics and regulation systems, and provides advice on ethical reporting and dealing with hate speech.

How did we start?

The Accountable Journalism project was conceived in 2002, by Claude-Jean Bertrand, who wanted to build the largest database of media codes of conduct and press councils in the world.

In 2015, The Reynolds Journalism Institute and the Ethical Journalism Network refurbished the database leading to creation of the Accountable Journalism site.

Why Accountable Journalism?

Journalism is undergoing a transformative period with the use of social media and user generated content (citizen journalism), but ethics remain vital to good practice.

To serve the public, journalism must be accurate, independent, impartial, accountable, and show humanity. And, to enforce these core values, newsrooms and media organizations should adopt a codes of conduct.

Likewise, the press must be accountable to the people through press councils, readers editors, or an ombudsmen.